Character Name: Dr. Annie Walker
Fandom: Realms of Peril & Glory: Liminal London [Podcast]
Played By: Shamani Bundell
Yarn Used:
Dress//Hair: Loops & Threads Soft Classic - Black
Skin: CraftSmart Value - White
Lips: CraftSmart Value - Tomato
Basic pattern here.
I have yet to hear Shamani voice a character I didn’t want to hug at least a little bit, and Annie is no exception. She's just been through so much and she doesn't deserve any of it, and every time it looks like she's going to get at least something approximating a happy ending...ugh. At least she got one dance and one kiss, right?
Annie went WAY off the beaten path, and deviates from the standard pattern as follows:
Dress: Okay, this was actually a lot of fun. For the first time, I did the skirt part first! I wanted it to be a kind of classy, elegant ballgown of the sort that Annie’s goth little heart would thrill to and Chantal’s innate fashion sense would approve of, so I used a shell stitch. The pattern is as follows:
Skirt:
Ch 79.
R1: Sc in second ch from hook, [skip next 2 ch, 5 dc in next ch, skip next 2 ch, sc in next ch] 12 times, skip next 2 ch, 5dc in next ch, skip next 2 ch, join to first sc (13 sc, 65 dc).
R2: Ch 3 (counts as first dc), 4 dc in same st, [skip next 2 st, sc in middle dc of shell, skip next 2 st, 5 dc in next sc] 12 times, skip next 2 st, sc in middle dc of shell, skip next 2 st, sl st in third ch (13 sc, 65 dc).
R3: Ch 2, [hdc in next 11 st, inv dec] 6 times, sl st in first hdc (72 hdc).
R4: Ch 1, [sc in first st, skip next 2 st, 5 dc in next st, skip next 2 st] 12 times, sl st in first sc (12 sc, 60 dc).
R5: Ch 3 (counts as first dc), 4 dc in same st, [skip next 2 st, sc in middle dc of shell, skip next 2 st, 5 dc in next sc] 11 times, skip next 2 st, sc in middle dc of shell, skip next 2 st, sl st in third ch (12 sc, 60 dc).
R6: Ch 2, [hdc in next 10 st, inv dec] 6 times, sl st in first hdc (66 hdc).
R7: Ch 1, [sc in first st, skip next 2 st, 5 dc in next st, skip next 2 st] 11 times, sl st in first sc (11 sc, 55 dc).
R5: Ch 3 (counts as first dc), 4 dc in same st, [skip next 2 st, sc in middle dc of shell, skip next 2 st, 5 dc in next sc] 10 times, skip next 2 st, sc in middle dc of shell, skip next 2 st, sl st in third ch (11 sc, 55 dc).
R7: Ch 2, [hdc in next 9 st, inv dec] 6 times, sl st in first hdc (60 hdc).
R8: Ch 1, [sc in first st, skip next 2 st, 5 dc in next st, skip next 2 st] 10 times, sl st in first sc (10 sc, 50 dc).
R9: Ch 3 (counts as first dc), 4 dc in same st, [skip next 2 st, sc in middle dc of shell, skip next 2 st, 5 dc in next sc] 9 times, skip next 2 st, sc in middle dc of shell, skip next 2 st, sl st in third ch (10 sc, 50 dc).
R10: Ch 2, [hdc in next 8 st, inv dec] 6 times, sl st in first hdc (54 hdc).
R11: Ch 1, [sc in first st, skip next 2 st, 5 dc in next st, skip next 2 st] 9 times, sl st in first sc (9 sc, 45 dc).
R12: Ch 3 (counts as first dc), 4 dc in same st, [skip next 2 st, sc in middle dc of shell, skip next 2 st, 5 dc in next sc] 8 times, skip next 2 st, sc in middle dc of shell, skip next 2 st, sl st in third ch (9 sc, 45 dc).
R13: Ch 2, [hdc in next 7 st, inv dec] 6 times, sl st in first hdc (48 hdc).
R14: Ch 1, [sc in first st, skip next 2 st, 5 dc in next st, skip next 2 st] 8 times, sl st in first sc (8 sc, 40 dc).
R15: Ch 3 (counts as first dc), 4 dc in same st, [skip next 2 st, sc in middle dc of shell, skip next 2 st, 5 dc in next sc] 7 times, skip next 2 st, sc in middle dc of shell, skip next 2 st, sl st in third ch (8 sc, 40 dc).
R16: Ch 2, [hdc in next 6 st, inv dec] 6 times, sl st in first hdc (42 hdc).
R17: Ch 1, [sc in first st, skip next 2 st, 5 dc in next st, skip next 2 st] 7 times, sl st in first sc (7 sc, 35 dc).
R18: Ch 3 (counts as first dc), 4 dc in same st, [skip next 2 st, sc in middle dc of shell, skip next 2 st, 5 dc in next sc] 6 times, skip next 2 st, sc in middle dc of shell, skip next 2 st, sl st in third ch (7 sc, 35 dc).
R19: Ch 2, [hdc in next 5 st, inv dec] 6 times, sl st in first hdc (36 hdc).
R20: Ch 1, [sc in first st, skip next 2 st, 5 dc in next st, skip next 2 st] 6 times, sl st in first sc (6 sc, 30 dc).
R21: Ch 3 (counts as first dc), 4 dc in same st, [skip next 2 st, sc in middle dc of shell, skip next 2 st, 5 dc in next sc] 5 times, skip next 2 st, sc in middle dc of shell, skip next 2 st, sl st in third ch (6 sc, 30 dc).
R22: Ch 2, hdc in front loop of each st around, sl st in first hdc (36 hdc).
R23: Ch 1, sc in back loop of each st around, sl st in first sc (36 sc).
Bodice: I picked up the pattern as if R23 was R42 at that point and mostly continued as normal. I did try to give her a sweetheart neckline, though, so when I got to a point where I judged the plunge of the collar would come in, I switched to the skin color, did 3 sc in back loops, switched back to the dress color, 1 sc, back to skin, 3 sc in back loops, and resume dress color for remainder of round. The next round I just did expanded the stretch of skin by one stitch on either side and continued to do so until I reached the natural end of the dress.
When I reached the neck, I actually stuffed her from the bottom up. I then sewed on a base that was, essentially, your basic circle with a ripple effect on the outer rim because I had hoped it would make the skirt appear to billow. I don’t think it worked exactly the way I intended, but it works well enough.
And speaking of things that didn’t work exactly the way I intended but worked well enough…
…I put a magnet in Annie’s right shoulder blade, so she and Declan can share a dance in the closest approximation of proper ballroom frame that can be achieved through half-remembered long-ago lessons and a single YouTube video tutorial.
Head: I did what I did with Alice and stitched Annie’s scalp in her hair color, then used the loop method to attach hair all around her hairline. Once I had done that, I experimented with gathering it into a bun but settled for a high ponytail because it wasn’t quite long enough. I tried to give her a little bit of blood trickling out of the corner of her mouth, too. And the eyes…red (well, dark pink) just seemed too clichéed, so I went with gold.
Arms: You know those frilly off-the-shoulder sleeves you see on fantasy ball gowns? That’s what I was going for here. I did the arms in the skin color all the way up, but I did the round next from last in front loops only and the last one in back loops only. I then joined the dress yarn to the front loops of that round, sc in each loop around, joined, and then did two shells, one on either side…more or less.